Rochdale house fire: Two injured and one missing

Two men are being treated in hospital and one man is unaccounted for after a fire caused a house to partially collapse in Greater Manchester.

The fire broke out at an end-of-terrace house in War Office Road, Rochdale, at about 05:10 BST.

The men, aged 38 and 60, were rescued from the building but the fire service said it believed there might have been another person inside.

A fire service spokesman said it was not safe to send crews into the house.

Wayne Shields from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: "There has been some sort of explosion which has caused the fire on the first floor of the property which has spread to the roof space.

"We don't think there is anyone within the property but there is still one person we can't account for.

"We have got conflicting information whether he is in the property or not but just to be on the safe side we are searching as best we can to try to find him."

Twenty-five firefighters are at the scene tackling the fire, which has extensively damaged the first floor and roof.

Gary Roberts, who lives a few doors away from the house, returned from working a nightshift at 06:30 BST to find the road blocked off.

He said: "I just got told there was an explosion and we are not allowed to go back to our properties until a structural engineer has been in to check it."

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